A 37-year-old man, suspected to be linked to several burglaries at Lantau’s Sea Ranch, has died following a suspected blow to the head. The mainland man was found unconscious at the isolated resort’s pier in the early hours of Wednesday, police told HKFP on Thursday.

sea ranch hong kong club house
Sea Ranch. File photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP.

At 5:39am, a passer-by reported to police that a man was lying at Sea Ranch pier unconscious. He was sent to Cheung Chau’s hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Shortly afterwards, at 7:15am, police received a report about a Sea Ranch flat being ransacked, with HK$3,000 in cash and a bank card stolen. Police said another call was received at 7.36am from an office at the development – the unit was also ransacked, with HK$1,000 in cash and 40 packs of cigarettes stolen.

The break-ins follow another report of a burglary on Tuesday.

sea ranch hong kong club house
Sea Ranch. File photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP.

Police at the New Territories South Regional Crime Unit are investigating whether the three break-ins were connected to the man who died.

Isolated resort

The resort was completed in 1979, but accrued massive debt and was the subject of years of legal wrangling. The self-contained enclave in Chi Ma Wan has no road connections, and is accessible only by a small boat run by the property’s management company for residents.

Promoted to upmarket clientele as a “community with every luxury,” brochures boasted top-notch restaurants, a cocktail lounge, a sports complex, sauna, nursery, library, a man-made beach and high-tech seaview apartments.

However, despite a recent uptick in interest, its club house now lies abandoned and many units at the New World Development property remain vacant.

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Tom founded Hong Kong Free Press in 2015 and is the editor-in-chief. In addition to editing, he is responsible for managing the newsroom and company - including fundraising, recruitment and overseeing HKFP's web presence and ethical guidelines.

He has a BA in Communications and New Media from Leeds University and an MA in Journalism from the University of Hong Kong. He previously led an NGO advocating for domestic worker rights, and has contributed to the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Al-Jazeera and others.